Parking directors address parking issue at University

Parking at the University’s Modesto A. Maidique Campus is a hot topic on many social networks, including Facebook and Twitter. With the click of a button, one can find several posts condemning the troubles several students have to encounter while trying to find parking.

One post on Tumblr, the micro-blogging site, read, “We pay $85 in parking fees when we don’t even have a guaranteed spot.”

But what many students are not aware of is that parking at the University is actually in good condition, according to Bill Foster, executive director of the Department of Parking and Transportation.

“There are enough spaces on campus for everyone to park, except during the first couple of weeks of the semester,” said Foster. “You have a lot of people here during off hours — like getting books and dropping classes — doing things are not normally in their schedule.”

In total, the University has 7,000 available parking spaces for students across MMC.

“Supply is not our problem. Convenience next to the buildings is always going to be a problem when you have 40,000 students and 8,000 faculty and staff at MMC and it’s the busiest time of the day,” he said.

Last year, students and faculty were given a new option: the PG5 Market Station.

“The main purpose of building the PG5 Market Station was to get more spaces. But [PG5] was designed for the support of the medical school build out to make sure that we had enough spaces when that area was built. For now, we’re using it for faculty, staff, students and visitors, but it will shift eventually as the medical school is built out,” said Lissette Hernandez, associate director of Parking and Transportation.

And even then, it seems that students are still unsatisfied with trying to find a parking space.
“Students’ main concern is convenience. They want parking to be as convenient as it possibly can at all times during the day. Faculty and staff want that, too,” Foster said.

The problem for many students is not that there are not enough parking spaces, but that they do not want to park far away from their classes.

“[Students] would prefer to get here when they want to get here – not early, not late – and drive to a parking spot near where they’re going, be able to park, get out and go to their class. Unfortunately, that’s not a reality in a place that’s this big and this diverse,” he said.

According to Foster, the University is doing a lot to improve this alleged parking problem and has plans on building a new garage in the future. “We are doing a lot. The Board of Governors has approved the funding for PG6, so there will be another 2,000 parking spaces. Once we decide on a site, it will take two to three years to build.”

In the meantime, he suggests that students arrive to their classes earlier in order to find a good parking space nearby.

“If you have a 10 a.m. class, you’re going to have to get here between 8 and 8:30 to get a convenient student space, because there are a lot of classes at 7, 8 and 9 a.m., and those students  begin to fill up those spaces. The later you come, the farther out you’re going to have to go.”

Hernandez believes that the reason why students and faculty act in regards to parking is because of the lifestyle they are used to.“As South Floridians, we are very accustomed to driving to our home into our driveway, park right there and walk into our house. I think that’s what we expect everywhere we go,” she said.
Foster would like the University community to understand that parking here is something that the department and the students need to compromise on.“We can never build enough parking at this university where, no matter what, whenever you want to come, you’ll be able to drive up wherever you want to go and park. That’s just not reality.”Pattrik Simmons is the beat reporter for the Parking of Transportation and Public Safety.